Our doctor gave us pills to be taken one day prior and then everyday of our two week vacation. Is this necessary if we plan on staying in cities? Can't we bring them and then if we plan on going into malaria prone areas begin dosing? But my major concern is that I've heard they make you feel lousy and if the risk is as low as they say, why ruin a vacation?

sounds like you have malerone...we had not side affects at all from them...i know at least one person who developed dirrhea immediately from them...

ask your doctor...

we only took them for malaria areas like siem reap cambodia, chiang rai, thailand and koh chang thailand...

in bangkok you do not need them, but i would check back with your doctor as to why he gave them to you....

our dosage was to start one day before going to the area and continue thru 7 days after leaving the area....different pills work differently...

that shourl read NO side affects...

slow down the typing: should read no side affects....

You posted this earlier and have had a number of replies. You haven't given us enough info to be helpful to you.

Sometimes when I post and then look at it, it failed to go to the specific area. In other words, when I post to India, it comes up in the general asia section. So I double posted.

But my question was (and I think it's been answered) we're going to India for two weeks....one week in the north (Delhi, Jaipur, and Agra) the other week, we don't know where yet. But we probably won't venture too far off the beaten track. We arre prepared with all the necessary shots Typhoid both Heps, and tetnus, and were also given pills for malaria. These were to be taken the day before departure and then every subsequent day in India. I had heard or thought I had heard about someone feeling quite ill after taking the pills. If the risk is low for malaria, I was questioning whether taking the pills at all if there's even a small chance of them making us feel horrible. But my take is there are no problems with taking them and it's always better to be safe than sorry.
thnx

Have you read the cdc website?

Which of the anti-malarials have you been prescribed?

Have read the website. And the prescription is malerone.

Malarone is the anti-malarial least likely to cause side effects.

When you hear "horror stories" about anti-malarials, the one people are talking about is Larium. Larium is fine for many people, but it does have the highest incidence of side effects.

While few people have had side effects from Malarone, it's rare. If this pill is taken as prescribed daily with food (preferrably dairy - milk, yogurt, cheese) you should be fine. Few meds are recommened without food, or water or milk or juice. For Malarone dairy is what is preferred.

As Kathie mentions... Lariam was the one that caused weird side effects for many.

And though you mentioned the protocol your doctor indicated, again, if it's Malarone you also have to take these for 7-days after departing the area. So that's 1 + 14 + 7 = 22 pills.

Malaria mossies bite between dusk to dawn, so it's recommended in addition to the pills, you wear long pants, sleeves and socks during this time and apply repellent with at least 25-30% Deet on exposed skin (avoid the face). Repellent should be washed off before retiring. If staying in air conditioned rooms, you're not likely to have flying things. If not, and mossie nets are provided, sleep under them.

Sure, seems like a lot of trouble, but there is no inoculation for malaria; these med are a preventative. After the first day your routine of meds, repellents, clothing and mossie nets will fall right into place. Better safe then sorry as malaria is a nasty disease.

We have just come back from a trip to Thailand and Cambodia, and we took Malarone. None of us had any side effect.